When employees break things

it is funny how far grace can take you!i private moment w this individual with a fair balance of reprimand and encouragement!
Example hey "bill" wow! that was really messed up what happened......this is not a great time to have something like this happen.it could have been way worse had someone had something go through their windshield. Let me say this however,"Jim" this kind of thing happens to all of us including me......(insert personal horror story here).WE just have to learn and move on.I Need you ,and I need your head in the game.So lets try to just take our lesson and move on! rough outline,but something like that ....in tenor anyhow!! Sorry for the loss jamin!!!
 
I think you just hit upon another of my major peeves...

"Private moment"

When you reprimand someone, do it in PRIVATE. Nothing good comes from belittling an employee in front of their peers. I think it's unprofessional and childish; yet I see it happen often.
 
That does suck Jamin'. That is one that hurts but was foreseeable. definitely time to look for a toolbox that can be mounted either on the truck or chipper. In reviewing the incident find what lead to the accident then figure out how it can be avoided and assure your employee that even if it takes more time your cool with it. What ever the solution be sure you support it going forward or it will not become ingrained.

MTC, I don't think you can take from the vacation pay. I think that making it clear that when you hire someone that breaking equipment or property will lead through a number of steps to dismissal. Keep the crew informed of what the bottomline cost is and impact on the profit margin. Most guys have limited knowledge of the company's financials Educate them to think more like business people not employees and you'll see a much better attitude.


One more think is to really look at your hiring practices and interviewing techniques. Do they work to ensure the right hire?
 
Aw Jamin, that sucks!

I really appreciate how you handles it. These guys are right that if you got a good guy they're gonna feel as bad as you, though for different reasons. You don't have to be a jerk like my boss, but I would privately "officially" talk it over with him. Explain how you know how bad he feels, but ya gotta tell him not to do it again. Ask him how he plans on being more careful, and say, "Good" and be done with it.

My boss would yell and scream, call you an idiot, and never let you forget it...which is why I'm looking for a new place. Wish I could move out to your neck of the woods, but gotta stick around SoCal a while longer.

Grace and Peace to ya, Bro!
 
I thought this stuff only happened to me. If 'misery loves company' then it looks like you've got a lot of friends in this thread Jamin. I did the exact same thing, but got most of my stuff back. But honestly I'd rather be out 1400 bucks than have somebody get hurt.
 
If the reason that the gear was lost was because of not latching the chute then change that procedure from now on.

there are some 'lock-out/tag-out' procedures that could be implemented. The cable installation companies always seem to have a cone in front and behind the vehicle. One day I asked the installer and he said that it was to create visibility and clearance. It also was there to force the driver to do a walkaround and close all the doors.

Could you have some sort of clip or pin that would come out of the chute latches that would be clipped to the steering wheel to force the driver to do the walkaround?

Check your PM
 
Jamin, that sucks.

I always take the perspective that when accidents happen, the person "responsible" is often acting out the last part in a series of poor decisions or habits.

It sounds like you somewhat agree with this, as you recognize the problem of storing gear in the chipper chute. The penalty for not closing the chute is losing your stuff and risking the health and welfare of drivers behind you. Maybe regularly storing stuff in the chute should not be considered an option in the first place. Have you considered welding a box to the frame of the chipper? or the wheel cover?

I'm glad everything is ok. Sounds like you handled it well. I wouldn't penalize the worker. Include him in the problem solving exercise. He'll appreciate that and help him start to think like a responsible party.
 
One morning we had to do some mechanic work at the storage yard before leaving. The handtools were stored in a tool box that was about three feet long and 10" square. It went in the pass through toolbox on the front of the dump box. When I made the left out of the driveway I cut it a little close and the truck made a bounce. I happened to look in the mirror just in time to see this black torpedo fly out of the toolbox and hit the ground about five feet out. The tools exploded like a load of shiny shrapnel!

For some lucky reason the toolbox landed square and didn't get bent. We pulled all of the tools back together and on to work. The fella who didn't latch the box was chagrined and all over himself to apologize. He became the self appointed 'walk around evangelist' from then on.
 
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I've got a real story from today...

My chip truck has enough space for everything I need, but we don't have space for 1 MS200T, 1 MS361, Leaf blower, and the tote I use to hold 1ea. 2gal gas tank, 1ea 1gallon of mixed fuel, and the small bottles of 2 cycle oil.

So, for 2 years now, I have put it in the chipper hopper. Trust me, this is is the only place I could put it... (No we didn't chip it by accident)
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But, my groundie, who wraps up everything a vast majority of the time, and wrapped up everything today, forgot to close the chipper door.

Half way to our next job we were driving on a 60 mph section of high way. A man pulled next to me waiving his arms to get my attention. Well, he got our attention and we discovered that we lost it all. We back tracked, but we found nothing/nowhere.

So, I'm out $1,400 dollars today.

He sort of knows the sevarity of it, but I don't know if he knows how tight money is right now.

I didn't yell at him, I didn't point out what he did wrong, I didn't ask why he forgot to do it, I didn't demand payment, I didn't threaten to garnish wages, etc...

For some of you guys with larger companies, this may be a drop in the bucket, but not for me.

What would y'all do?

[/ QUOTE ]

I would look at who drove away in the truck without checking the hopper. In a situation like this, I think the driver has to be certain to check everything before rolling away. Ladders tied down, tool boxes closed, chipper hooked up properly, chute turned, and hopper closed. I keep stuff in my hopper too, so I can see how easily this can happen.

I would for sure point out what happened. He needs to know the outcome of his forgetting.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Well you got to kick me for spelling?? Jamin I'm sorry for your loss really. Just I've heard this in countless tailgates with this new company I'm with. It's hard to break an old habit, I have to tell guys day in and day out not shute puttin find a place int the truck or in the back of it. Guess I took my frustration out on your mistake.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have no idea what kind of gear your beating around in, but storing gear in my hopper is totally legit! I would store stuff in there way before I drop it into the back of my truck on a pile of chips, waiting to bounce out.

Tell me, how are two throughbolts, spring loaded, with the ability to place a lock through them going to open up? My driver door has more of a chance of opening up then my chipper hopper.

That hopper cover is there for more then one reason. USE THAT SPACE
 
[ QUOTE ]
Tell me, how are two throughbolts, spring loaded, with the ability to place a lock through them going to open up? My driver door has more of a chance of opening up then my chipper hopper.

[/ QUOTE ]


It's not always the hopper door coming open, and after time the lock pins on some do allow the door to open on hard bumps. What about the jack hole that starts the chipper up without empting the hopper. That ground guy is not to blame, the jerk weed that put the stuff there is. That poor ground guy might be from a different crew that don't normally store stuff in there. He might be a new guy. Store it where you like, I know we have more than afew guys that'll never put their stuff in there again.
 
We store our stump grinder in there. Hope no-one accidentally puts it through. Seriously though, gear on chippers is a great risk (especially a 1/4 ton stump grinder). Make sure it's well stowed and well fastened. Formalize the checking process. The person who stows the gear should be different from the person who checks it. As the evidence shows it costs money and potentially a lot more when gear falls of the truck.
 
It is fun being the lightning rod in this discussion. It builds good character.
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There are some days when procedural stuff gets forgotten. Why this happens, I don't know.

As for us, that day, I can pin point a distraction we experienced; I happened to look into the tree, we just worked on, and notice a hanger. I briefly mentioned it to Ivan, my groundie, that I saw a hanger. (I didn't infer in anyway that he retrieve it. I simply made a statement). At the same time he was wrapping up stuff in the chipper, I went to get my throw line. Little did I know that my groundie went to the back of the chip truck to get out the telescopic pole saw to try to reach the hanger. He had good motives but, I could see that even with the pole saw, he would have been at least 6' short. I store my throw line in the cab of the truck. My position to hit the shot was half the length of the truck. So, I wasn't near the rear end of the chipper. I hit the shot and pulled the hanger down. He untangled the line from the hanger and I never had to move from the position I hit the shot from. I folded the Faltheimer and went to the cab. I was ready to leave. I thought we were totally ready to leave. Just like the many many other jobs we were ready to leave.

So, our proceedure was thrown off by that tiny distraction.

And for the sake of the topic of this thread topic; I belive that distractions are a cause of a lot of broken, lost, damaged, etc... stuff. I have personally recorded employees breaking stuff and it typically comes down to some other distraction. Something threw them off from their normal habits.
 
I once new a guy who lost his big toe driving a forklift.He wrecked into something because he was checking out some Red heads rear end.
 
There is an onus on the driver to be the last one to do the circle check since they are the one who will be ticketed if anything goes wrong. I agree with the distraction though. That has led to many an error, specially when it involves well proportioned redheads, blondes, brunettes,etc.....

Maybe the burkha isn't such a bad idea! JK!!!!
 
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